Category: Zeitfunk

We wear a lot of hats here at PRX, from distributing podcasts ofallstripes, to running our Podcast Garage training facility in Boston, to managing our open audio marketplace at PRX.org.

Since our founding in 2003, our PRX.org marketplace has grown to house over 100,000 audio pieces—uploaded from around the world—from short, artsy works to hour-long music specials. Creators post their work on our site, and public radio stations and digital networks shop there for new work for their local audiences. The goal is to give great audio a second home online, and ideally a third home on broadcast and digital, where it can reach even more ears.

To celebrate our marketplace, we host our annual Zeitfunk awards. Below you’ll find the list of producers, programs and stations who sold the most in the PRX marketplace in 2016. These numbers are calculated from individual licenses of audio pieces on PRX. (Subscription-only shows like This American Life and The Moth are not included in these results.)

Most Licensed Producers by PRX Remix
PRX Remix is our XM Station, app, and broadcast show that purchases work directly from PRX.org. These are individual producers from which Remix purchased the most.
1. Nate DiMeo
2. Eric Molinsky
3. (tie) Erica Heilman and David Green

It’s that time of year again – time when we reflect upon the past year, tally up the licenses and listens, and give you a picture of what the action is like on PRX.org. We’ll be announcing the nominees through this week, so stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter accounts for announcements.

First, some stats:

During 20148701 unique pieces were licensed, many of those licensed more than once, with a total of 36,629 licenses..200 new producers sold pieces517 new series were created.
and 15,591 new pieces were published.

Well, first, keep in mind that this is the current licensing habits of the stations on PRX and not reflective of what we think is awesome. We understand there is so much rad work out there that might not fit into a broadcast clock.

To answer your question though, these numbers mean that the most licensed type of work on PRX is the hour-long, weekly series and this has to do with a) the broadcast friendly length and b) that it is recurring content which is licensed every week. Often stations are trying to fill holes during long weekends, or they need to pick up a weekly show to fill their schedule.

And what’s up with those 0 to 5 minute stories?

These numbers also suggest that shorter stories (meaning under 5 minutes) do well also.

Stations often use these to fit into Morning Edition or All Things Considered. Or, some stations have shows where they regularly feature stories from PRX, for example, KFAI’s Listening Lounge. Another great example is our own PRX Remix which is regularly licensing shorter works of around 5 to 10 minutes in length.

Don’t be discouraged, but do keep yourself informed. Check out the new NPR broadcast clocks and start thinking about the length of your story and whether or not it is helping your chances of being licensed by a station.

That’s all well and great but I’m a podcaster and I don’t care about being licensed by stations.